honestly, if you have never made a gumbo before, I would recommend that you buy your roux premade...it comes either in a jar or a powdered dry form and I'll garantee that even the most discerninging palate can't tell the difference...

that step alone will save you a ton of grief and heartache as well as a half hour of prep time...

as far as recipes, there are some damn good ones in the cookbook thread...

quote:honestly, if you have never made a gumbo before, I would recommend that you buy your roux premade.

I find making roux to be about as difficult as scrambling eggs. Just pay attention and continuously stir it. I used to use a wooden spatula in each hand to stir. I'm more relaxed about it now. I think using stock instead of water is very important.

I'm the same way. Roux is easy if you understand that once you start you cannot leave it until you are done.

A good roux for me is about a solid thirty or so minutes in a cast iron skillet with the heat being adjusted. I start medium then high, then low once the skillet gets hot because it retains the heat then back up.

I use about 1 1/4 cups of flout to 1 cup of oil or thereabouts. And I like a really dark roux for my gumbos.

I use file' in my gumbos and I add it about twenty minutes before the end and stir it in well. It adds a good flavor and it becoming bitter is an old wives tale.

If you're going with a jarred roux, look in the recipe book for my Cheater's Gumbo recipe. I wrote it for someone who was an extremely novice cook, very young and newly married. You can use it as a guide. I've tasted both Savoie's and Kary's dark roux. I prefer Savioe's. I have instructions on how to make using the jarred roux better if that's the road you take, but like others, if you can be patient and stir, stir, stir, you can make a roux. After you make a few of them, you'll be able to make it quickly or the slow way.

1. MAKE ROUX Adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Toast ¾ cup flour in Dutch oven on stovetop over medium heat, stirring constantly, until just beginning to brown, about 5 minutes. Off heat, whisk in oil until smooth. Cover, transfer pot to oven, and cook until mixture is deep brown and fragrant, about 45 minutes.

quote:I find making roux to be about as difficult as scrambling eggs. Just pay attention and continuously stir it. I used to use a wooden spatula in each hand to stir. I'm more relaxed about it now. I think using stock instead of water is very important.

I agree with your sentiments. But I am not an 'ambi-stirrer'. However, when on the run way, I can turn left.

Have your trinity prepped before starting the roux. When the roux gets to the desired tint(peanut butter brown or ebony dependant on the gumbo desired) throw in the veggies and reduces the heat. This stops the "true" cooking of the roux and cooks the veggies in the presence of the hot oil in the roux. Water is to drink, stock is for making soups and such.

Each of your recommendations screams that YOU do not know how to make a gumbo at all, you know how to make a pot of BS and call it gumbo because you bought the ingredients at the store. You have absolutely no control over the end product at all. Why not go to a restaurant and buy a gallon?

quote:Each of your recommendations screams that YOU do not know how to make a gumbo at all, you know how to make a pot of BS and call it gumbo because you bought the ingredients at the store. You have absolutely no control over the end product at all. Why not go to a restaurant and buy a gallon?